New ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Set Image Teases A Destroyed Cairo

The X-Men series started straightforwardly enough in 2000, with the first film in the series, followed by one sequel in 2002 and another in 2006. But at that point, the franchise split off in several different directions. Plans for a Magneto spinoff were scrapped, but Wolverine got a poorly received standalone movie in 2009. Then the prequel X-Men: First Class launched a parallel series, tied back to the original trilogy in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Now that the two halves have been joined and the timeline reset, all eyes are on the next X-Men movie, which will conclude the second trilogy (and possibly mark Hugh Jackman’s penultimate appearance as Wolverine). X-Men: Apocalypse also sees the return of director Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two original movies and returned for Days of Future Past.

Singer has been posting Apocalypse set images during both pre-production and production on the film (via his Instagram account), and his latest photo shows that the new X-Men movie will lay waste to Cairo. The Egyptian capital also happens to be the childhood home of Storm (played by Alexandra Shipp as a young woman in Apocalypse), suggesting that that character will go back to her origins more than fifteen years after her first onscreen appearance (where Halle Berry played her as an adult).

Set in 1983 (more than a decade after the end of Days of Future Past), the title for Apocalypse comes from the villain of the same name, played by an unrecognizable Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina). Judging by early details and the Apocalypse trailer shown at San Diego Comic-Con 2015, the film is shaping up to be another must-see event in the increasingly sprawling X-Men cinematic universe. After all, the X-Men franchise has delivered memorable performances, impressive special effects, and thoughtful social commentary (in several different decades and timelines) since it began fifteen years ago.

Apocalypse will no doubt feature its fair share of destruction-oriented spectacle (as evidenced by elements like Singer’s latest set photo), though that doesn’t mean it will break as much narrative ground, too. Still, with its cast is stacked, the film has enormous potential for intriguing character interactions and surprising twists. At the least, it should be interesting to see how Singer and collaborators bring this second X-Men trilogy to a close (and whether or not it plants any seeds for future X-Men installments).

Fantastic Four opens August 7th, 2015, Deadpool on February 12th, 2016, X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27th, 2016, Gambit on October 7th, 2016, Wolverine 3 (not the official title) on March 3rd, 2017, Fantastic Four 2 on June 9th, 2017, and some as-yet unspecified X-Men film on July 13th, 2018. New Mutants is also in the work without a release date.